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Rumors of Google and Dell iPhone Rival 146

Posted by CmdrTaco from the please-don't-make-me-jailbreak dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Speculation is mounting that Google is plotting the launch of a mobile phone in partnership with computer giant Dell. Senior industry sources claim the two companies will reveal their plans at next month's 3GSM telecoms conference in Barcelona, although Google insiders deny an announcement is due in the near future."
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Rumors of Google and Dell iPhone Rival More

Rumors of Google and Dell iPhone Rival

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  • Hmm (Score:2, Interesting)

    by moogied ( 1175879 )
    I don't see this happening honestly. Google tends to buy out a company instead of partnership with it. especially after the wi-max fiasco I would see them perhaps buying a smaller smartphone vendor(openmoko comes to mind) and using that.

    • Re:Hmm (Score:5, Informative)

      by Aphrika ( 756248 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @12:32PM (#22236012)
      You might want to sit back and have a look at this [dell.com]

      Yup, Dell hardware powers Google's search appliances (a PowerEdge 2950 to be exact wit ha funky yellow bezel), Google software comes on all Dells. While that's not big deal, there's even a Dell/Google Portal [google.co.uk]. Basically, they already have a partnership.

      Given that the last sentence of the linked story is incorrect - Dell currently does not manufacture its own range of handhelds - there's a good chance that there may be some flames accompanying this smoke, for the simple reason that Google aren't a hardware company. They play the tech market more like MS in that they supply software and services, but partner to build devices.
      • Don't forget that Google is bidding in the 700MHz auction. Perhaps they do want to become a carrier after all. They buy spectrum, have Dell make them special ad-supported phones...it all seems to fit together.
    • "Google tends to buy out a company instead of partnership with it. especially after the wi-max fiasco"

      Do you have any sources for how many companies Google bought out as compared to those they signed a partnership agreement? What WiMax fiasco are you refering to?

  • Competition is GOOD (Score:4, Insightful)

    by StCredZero ( 169093 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @12:21PM (#22235878)
    Competition is Good. We're just at the beginning. (And just catching up to the Japanese!)

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Correction: We're catching up to where the Japanese were three years ago...

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Yvanhoe ( 564877 )
        Three month ago, I was dining in Tokyo with some geeks. The iPhone was pretty popular, but what really got me was that he connected it to his laptop, and opened the 3G access. He told me he got 3 Mbps of symmetrical bandwidth. Unlimited access, for about 30 euros per month. We joined a video chat and put the laptop at the end of the table. It was like we were dining with people miles from there.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Albanach ( 527650 )

          The iPhone was pretty popular, but what really got me was that he connected it to his laptop, and opened the 3G access.
          Am I misreading or are you saying your geek friend was getting a 3Mbps connection via a 3G iPhone?

          That would certainly have amazed me too, given the iPhone doesn't have 3G capability. I guess he could have used the iPod to get a 3Mbps WiFi connection then passed that to the laptop via Bluetooth.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by dfghjk ( 711126 )
            Except that bluetooth can't go 3Mbps and if WiFi were available to his "iPod" then his laptop could have used that directly.

            This is all a bunch of nonsense.

        • Re:Competition is GOOD (Score:5, Interesting)

          by prockcore ( 543967 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @02:59PM (#22237898)
          You're lying on so many levels. Let us count the ways:

          1. iPhone is not available in Japan because it doesn't support wCDMA/EVDO
          2. iPhone can't be tethered.
          3. iPhone doesn't have 3G.
          4. Japan's fastest network maxes out at 2.4Mbs (and is not symmetric: 2.4 down, 144kbps up)
          5. Japan doesn't use euros.
          • Not necessarily...

            1. NTT DoMoCo supports a GSM network [gsmworld.com] within Japan.
            2. The CECT p168 is a close clone of the iPhone [intomobile.com], close enough that if you looked at it across a larger table you may think it's an iPhone. And many of the CECT clones have tethering ability.
            3. See number 2 - a clone that supports 3G.
            4. See number 1 - DoMoCo apparently supports 3G services in Japan.
            5. He may be just nationalizing the cost into money units he normally uses, like most Americans are apt to do (rather than state

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by jrumney ( 197329 )

              NTT DoMoCo supports a GSM network within Japan.

              FOMA [wikipedia.org] is not GSM, nor is it even UMTS, though it is compatible with the latter.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by jrumney ( 197329 )

            4. Japan's fastest network maxes out at 2.4Mbs (and is not symmetric: 2.4 down, 144kbps up)

            I guess you mean KDDI. EMobile offers 7.2Mbps down, 384kbps up, Softbank and Docomo both offer at least 3.6Mbps down on their HSDPA networks, so you picked Japan's slowest network.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Yvanhoe ( 564877 )
            Hmmm, you make me doubt he used his iPhone, but he had an iPhone and I remember him connecting a cellphone to his laptop...
            I also had doubts about the symmetry of the connection but he told me he had 3Mbps upload and download, he told me it was a recent possibility, he looked like he knew what he was talking about.
            iPhone have been bought in US by Apple geeks since they were released. I know many people in France who bought one in US before it was nationally released. I don't understand these people very

            • Sorry about euros, I thought it was the SI unit for money :-p
              So the dollar is the Imperial unit of money? IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!!!
      • Correction -- I meant "just" in the sense of only. As in we're still only catching up to the Japanese. And the Europeans. Not in the sense of "just" as in we are catching up just now. We're WAY behind!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Divebus ( 860563 )

      Computer Giant Dell? Apple's market cap is almost 3X Dell's.

      Anyway, Dell makes things out of hardware they find laying around in China but they don't really innovate anything. Besides, Google's CEO sits on Apple's Board. I don't see Doogell Phone happening, but ready to be surprised.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by justinlindh ( 1016121 )

      (And just catching up to the Japanese!)
      I always hear this, but I've never actually heard how their cell phones and service are superior. I'm not denying that they are, but can you tell me why?

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by peragrin ( 659227 )
        read up a few posts. The guy was eating in Tokyo and they hooked up a 3g cell phone to a laptop and had a wireless video conference call at the dinner table.

        In europe desipte having massive roaming charges everyone uses GSM phones. you can take your phone anywhere, swap out your normal SIM card and put in a local prepaid one and continue on.

        Cell phones in the USA is a joke compared to both of those regions.

        • Re:Competition is GOOD (Score:4, Interesting)

          by AKAImBatman ( 238306 ) <akaimbatman@gmaiBLUEl.com minus berry> on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @02:00PM (#22237122) Homepage Journal

          In europe desipte having massive roaming charges everyone uses GSM phones. you can take your phone anywhere, swap out your normal SIM card and put in a local prepaid one and continue on.

          Ummm... wtf? We do the exact same thing here in the US. For example, when my wife needed a replacement Razr (something blew internally), I saved the SIM card and stuck it in an old Nokia we had lying around. My wife continued to use the Nokia until her new Razr arrived. I popped the SIM card in the replacement phone, and she was up and running again.

          I made sure to store her phone #s to the SIM card as well, so that she would have them on the other two handsets. I backed the other data up using a USB mini cable, which I was then able to plunk into the new Razr when she got it.

          We may be lagging with Japan, but I really don't understand your comparison with Europe.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by monsted ( 6709 )
            When i was in Colorado a few years ago, a very enthusiastic cell phones salesman tried to sell me "the brand new Sony Ericsson Z600!", which i'd had for well over a year from my danish provider. He looked at my colleague funny when he pulled out a brand new European Nokia that he hadn't even heard of yet.

            Oh, and our phones aren't artificially limited from tethering, using bluetooth or any other such BS. They all come with the stock software and all features enabled.
          • that only works if you have AT&T or t-mobile. if you have verizon or sprint neither one of them supports GSM cards.

            If you have orange(UK) you can swap your sim card and use your phone with t-mobile in germany without roaming charges.

            • if you have verizon or sprint neither one of them supports GSM cards.

              That's because Sprint and Verizon are 3G carriers. Which is much closer to what the Japanese have. (Though as you pointed out, there are portability advantages to the 2G GSM networks.)

              If you have orange(UK) you can swap your sim card and use your phone with t-mobile in germany without roaming charges.

              I know. T-Mobile is a German company that setup shop here in the US. As a result, they allow international use of their networks when traveli

  • Get real. Whatever this thing turns out to be, you can bet your monkey it won't be as pretty as the iPhone. As easy to use, maybe. But it sounds like it's aimed at a different market - a market that won't blindly pay out the ass for the kind of experience Apple offers. Which means it's not an iPhone competitor. Much the same way anything-that-plays-music is not an iPod competitor, though pundits continue to insist that IT IS OMG!!! to drive up their page views. :P

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by C0vardeAn0nim0 ( 232451 )
      "anything-that-plays-music" is a competitor to the ipod the same way beer is a competitor to wine. you can argue they're diferent classes of beverage, but it doesn't change the fact they're competitors.

      just because apple's marketing is way more efficient at creating hype, doesn't change the fact that the iphone has _hundreds_ of competitors that apeal to the "i just want a phone that makes calls" crowd, and bunch of competition on the smartphone area.

      one guy here at the office offered me an iphone he brough

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by clem ( 5683 )

        "anything-that-plays-music" is a competitor to the ipod the same way beer is a competitor to wine. you can argue they're diferent classes of beverage, but it doesn't change the fact they're competitors.
        You mean we don't have separate livers for wine and beer? And another for Jäger? I thought it worked like the dessert stomach. That's what I remember from college, anyway.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Khuffie ( 818093 )
        does everything the iphone does plus more

        No wifi and lack of sufficient internal storage, yet you can claim that? It's a competitor, but it doesn't do everything the iPhone does.

    • Whatever this thing turns out to be, you can bet your monkey it won't be as pretty as the iPhone... Much the same way anything-that-plays-music is not an iPod competitor

      I personally buy electronic gadgets first for the functionality. The form is a nice add-on but hardly the killer feature.

      • I personally buy electronic gadgets first for the functionality. The form is a nice add-on but hardly the killer feature.

        The form is essential to the functionality

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by jellomizer ( 103300 ) *
        I use to think like that but times has changed for me. Style is more important then features for the most part. There is the need to have Features, style then nice to have features. The more features you have the more features that you really don't use, you may think you will use them but in actually you normally use only 20% of the features that are available 80% of the time. Style is important because it grabs other attentions, not features, and that in a lot of ways is a good thing. It incrases your p

        • There is the need to have Features, style then nice to have features. The more features you have the more features that you really don't use, you may think you will use them but in actually you normally use only 20% of the features that are available 80% of the time.

          You are assuming that, instead of a $600 iPhone, I am getting a different $600 phone with more features than an iPhone. My point was that I don't pay that high a premium for asthetics, so I will stick to one that is cheap and just as functiona

          • I am not saying you are wrong... I am just saying Astetics has its value and a lot of people reconize its value. There is a Value of Astetics and could make that $600 worth it for people. I myself don't own a iPhone, for the reason that I don't need it and the fact my phone is in my Pocket Most of the time. But paying extra because of a looks cool factor isn't wasting money, It has value and sometimes that value is quite high. Why get a car with a spoiler... It looks cool, For most of your driving you ar

      • We're a rare breed (Score:2, Interesting)

        by sarysa ( 1089739 )
        I won't say "dying breed" because there will always be people inclined to take function over fashion, but anyone in marketing will tell you that style, more than function, brings in the green. Function appeals to a niche market.

        Incidentally, I purchased a Zune last month. Still a little sore over Apple's treatment of third party developers re: iPhone... (which is an even rarer take than function > style)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfghjk ( 711126 )
      The experience the iPhone offers isn't that great. The standard is low.

      Smartphones, of which the iPhone barely qualifies, all suck and the iPhone is best of breed only because it sucks marginally less than everything else. It is not especially stable, not easier to use, and not particularly high in functionality. It's easy to imagine a device thoroughly better than the iPhone, though apparently harder to deliver than it seems like it should be. It's time for a clever company, which Google may very well
  • Finally. Now everyone who has a Dell iPod player can get a matching Dell iPhone! It'll be just like the "other iPhone" but with all the benefits of being a Dell product!

    Where do I buy Google and Dell stock? I'm gonna be RICH!

  • Competition at last? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by pwnies ( 1034518 ) * <j@jjcm.org> on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @12:28PM (#22235962) Homepage Journal
    Despite this most likely happening right after duke nukem forever comes out, if it does happen, it'll be a great thing to have. Right now Apple needs a rival. If they sit at the top alone with the iPhone, it won't have any incentive to get better. Google is just the company to give them this competition, and Dell's equally enormous resources will surely fuel the hardware side of the development.
    • >>Right now Apple needs a rival.

      But surely nobody can hope to rival Apple's mighty 0.1% market share!

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by EvilNTUser ( 573674 )
      "Right now Apple needs a rival. If they sit at the top alone with the iPhone, it won't have any incentive to get better."

      What?

      Nokia? Sony Ericsson? Samsung?

      I know this site is supposed to be U.S. centric, but have we now regressed to ignoring companies that aren't American? Hell, even the title says that Google and Dell are releasing an iPhone rival instead of a smartphone. Please stop this already. We don't have to kleenex every single product Apple decides to market.

  • Dell will lose even more money (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mveloso ( 325617 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @12:30PM (#22235976)
    Remember the Dell DJ?

    Dell is good at selling commodity products to businesses and value consumers. When they try and move up the food chain, they don't do so well, the Alienware acquisition notwithstanding.

    • Your lack of replies only serves to reinforce your argument. I remember scoffing at the DJ's and the DJ ditty.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by superflippy ( 442879 )
      Dell is good at selling commodity products to businesses and value consumers.

      Not even that. In my university research group we stopped buying Dells because the brand-new machines consistently arrived with so many defects (e.g. drives installed improperly) and were just difficult to work with. For example, we bought two high-end workstations that within weeks of each other. After a while we decided to move the extra memory from one to the other and discovered we couldn't because even though they were exactl

  • Because the DJ was such a success... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Overzeetop ( 214511 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @12:30PM (#22235980) Journal
    ...and the Axim is the top currently selling pda from Dell.

    Half baked and abandoned hardware - yeah, that's what I really want in a device.

    Sorry, but there has got to be a better hardware vendor to choose than Dell for such a venture. Dell consumer is about high turnover and commodity parts that can be changed with the wind when prices fluctuate - not what I want in a phone builder. Doesn't Nokia or Moto want a piece of this kind of action?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Aphrika ( 756248 )
      Ok, granted the Dell DJ (and Ditty thingy) were just "me too" devices - off the shelf devices with a Dell logo stuck on them. Not the way to go.

      However, I have to take contention with the Axim - it was a damn good PDA and most certainly not half-baked. It always came high up in Microsoft Mobile device reviews and was early to have a VGA screen, Wifi, BlueTooth and GPS. While the range was canned, I'm not so sure it was just Dell doing this at the time - the market for PDAs shrunk massively since smartphone
      • I own two axims. My daughter and wife now use them to play games. They were really promising little devices...until Dell decided to drop them. Now they're just historical notes. A really like my axim, but I just don't think they're cut out for the market.

        Now, if you put HTC and Google together - I'm listening.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Bandman ( 86149 )
      There IS a better hardware vendor, but in this battle, Apple is already taken
    • "there has got to be a better hardware vendor to choose than Dell .. - not what I want in a phone builder"

      Does Dell get its chips and hardware assembled in different Chinese factories than Nokia or Moto, if not then your whole point is void. A big plus for such a deal would be Dells consumer and distribution channels .. :)

    • Half baked and abandoned hardware - yeah, that's what I really want in a device.

      Things aren't much better over on the software [Google] side - where apps lanquish in 'beta' for years, user interfaces tend to be idiosyncratic, and updates tends to be sizzle rather than steak.
    • No moto, they skimp on ram and features. Nokia nope, as Sony are the only ones who can do the best 3d + multitask java apps on phones.

  • They can call it.. (Score:3, Funny)

    by UWM ( 1162951 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @12:33PM (#22236032) Homepage
    The Googell
  • The obvious choice would be gPhone or maybe even dPhone, but I have an even better suggestion ...

    the GD-ItPhone, which might be the expletive used by the early buyers ....

    On a more serious note, they'd better out do iPhone 2.0 and come in under the current iPhone pricing.

    Just my 2 copper coins of the realm.
  • And uses the open standard that google's been pushing. Ideally, it'd be capable of swapping between relatively inexpensive cellular (maybe in that 900mhz range?) and wifi.

    While I'm dreaming, I'd like it to support email and web, and include Eclipse or some other similar IDE, movies, music, and the ability to act as a guitar tuner.

    And a camera, a radio, a GPS, an emergency aircraft beacon, an accellerometer in three dimensions for Wiimote emulation, and I'd like it to fit in the palm of my hand and hook to

  • Ain't necessarily so.

    Specifically, Google has put a lot of weight behind Android [google.com]. If Google sells an 'own brand' phone - even if it's a Google/Dell own brand phone - then that kills all other Android phones stone dead, because none of the other serious mobile phone vendors will want to be using a competitor's OS. So Google, who aren't stupid, are not going to do this.

    This rumour is one of two things:

    • Dell are bringing out an Android phone.
    • Someone is maliciously starting a rumour in an attempt to damage Android
    • And an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.

    • Android can be multi-vendor (Score:4, Insightful)

      by EmbeddedJanitor ( 597831 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @01:54PM (#22237046)
      Look at how MS gets sack time with multiple big name vendors using Windows CE. There are many companies out there with Windows CE devices, so why not multiple Android-based systems too?

      Most of the Windows phones look so similar that they are primarily Windows phones with MS-brand images being larger than the manufacturers logos etc(Ooh look! A Windows phone, I wonder who makes it). The MS/Windows brand is the strongest brand on these devices.

      The first one or two Android phones will get a lot of reflected Googleshine, just like the launch of the first few MS phones.

    • I agree w/ above. Google bringing out a Goo-phone wouldn't make any sense, business-wise. Creating one would directly conflict with the goals of it's Android platform. Google stands to gain much more by staying on their hardware-independent path and profiting from the software.

      Come to think of it, Dell manufacturing/re-branding a low-end smartphone would seem to fit with their existing strategy. Much like their PC segment, they could sell the device cheaply and make money selling high margin accessor
  • Maybe in a couple years I can choose from several great phones, that aren't limited by the carriers, that I can use any way I wish, with any applications, with great voice quality and great bandwidth, for only $15 per month...Is that even possible? I hope so. Probably just wishful thinking.

  • dell isn't a technology company (Score:4, Insightful)

    by feldsteins ( 313201 ) <scott @ s c ottfeldstein.net> on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @12:42PM (#22236154) Homepage
    I think Google should partner with a technology company to provide the hardware instead of Dell. Dell has no R&D to speak of. They take off-the-shelf parts, brand them and sell a warranty. This partnership is on a fast train to also-ran city.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by William-Ely ( 875237 )
      I used to refer to Dell as the Intel factory outlet. Basically a company dedicated to showing off what Intel parts can do in concert with each other. A lot of my customers are surprised when I tell them that most computer manufacturers like Dell and HP use similar components to what you can buy yourself and wrap it up in a case with their logo on it that was also made by another company. Google is much better off talking to the ODM's directly instead of using Dell as a middle man. In fact I think it would

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfghjk ( 711126 )
      Google IS the technology company---they need a partner that is good at distribution. The problem with Dell isn't that they are a bad match, it's that they are ruthless and tend to put their partners under.
      • Google is a technology company in the area of software. They need a technology company to design the hardware. Dell isn't such a company.

  • But... but... (Score:3, Funny)

    by tholomyes ( 610627 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @12:42PM (#22236158) Homepage
    {sarcasm}
    But Apple only makes niche market products! The real threat is clearly Windows Mobile...
    {/sarcasm}
  • Dell is about commodity hardware.

    Google wants to commodotize phone hardware. Let's face it, phone companies suck at software.

  • whatcouldpossiblygowrong? not much. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by algae ( 2196 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @12:55PM (#22236322)
    Seriously people, this tag is getting massively overused. Dell making a cell phone is not the same thing as, say, implanting neural tissue from a pig into paralyzed children or building robots with machine guns. The worst thing that could go wrong here is that Dell might make a shitty phone and lose money. BFD.

    Anyone else who's sick of whatcouldpossiblygowrong abuse, please go ahead and put in a !whatcouldpossiblygowrong into the tags box.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by zsau ( 266209 )
      Or, just entirely ignore the complete failure that was tags in the hopes that they might go away. Tags as used on slashdot are invariably the same as either the editors/submitter's categories, or the comments. Except that, unlike comments, there's no space to elaborate on your conclusion and by being posted directly on the front page they attract wankers. I no longer look at them and I hope that we can get rid of them sooner rather than later.
      • I don't know, when something is tagged badarticle it usually is; in the past I would have to wade through a few comments to find that out or click and give the bad-article writers money, along with wasting my time.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by zsau ( 266209 )
          That's one use --- a better solution to the same problem would be the long-standing that users should be able to moderate articles. Bad articles would be relegated to 0 or -1 troll quickly enough and all would be well.

  • Great! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Bootarn ( 970788 )
    Google's Android is a great framework, but it has yet to gain substance by being embedded in real hardware. If Google and Dell put their heads together, we might have a complete product. It will probably never outgrow the iPhone in popularity, but I think it will become a success.
    Also, because Android is an open framework, we should expect a great number of third-party applications, something that the iPhone currently lacks.

  • whatcouldpossiblygowrong (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Itchyeyes ( 908311 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @12:57PM (#22236342) Homepage
    Kind of OT, but could we please stop tagging articles with "whatcouldpossiblygowrong"? Aside from the fact that is stopped being funny after the 2nd or 3rd time, it kind of negates the purpose of having a tag if every single article gets the same tag.

  • And what could make it even better? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Rooked_One ( 591287 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @01:10PM (#22236508) Journal
    adding a projector into the phone...

    as described by Microvision's statement that they are in talks with a major company [microvision.com]. Could you imagine a phone with a projector? I sure could... and I want one.
  • "Marketing Week" decides to drive more people to it's site by including the word "iPhone" in an article title. However, they're still so far off their tits to bother to use a spellchecker, so "al-though" makes it into the published copy. Cmdrtaco hasn't woken up properly yet, so it gets copied to Slashdot too...

    Seriously, "Senior industry sources" could mean anything. It probably means "some people we went down the pub with that actually work for a from a company that you've heard of".

    (and no, in case yo

  • Im afraid of Google-phone (Score:4, Funny)

    by peter303 ( 12292 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @01:27PM (#22236712)
    If I search the contact-list, I might get 100,000 matches.

  • sorry, can't do (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Tom ( 822 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @02:00PM (#22237126) Homepage Journal
    When I look around on the market, there simply aren't many companies that could rival Apple when it comes to designing with the user in mind, i.e. useful, easy to use, sleak and nice, with just about the right feature set (80%, you never please everyone entirely).

    Nokia, Siemens, Motorolla - they all suck in the useability department. Most of them suck hard and long.
    Dell, HP, Palm - useability ok, but the feature set is never quite right
    Google - interface ok, useaful, but thrives too much on hiding things (how many of your non-geek friends now even a fraction of the cool things you can do in the Google search input field?)

    The only company that comes to mind as comparing to Apple in the design department is Nintendo - and I'd be more than surprised if they came out with a mobile phone ("DS+Talk" ? :-) )
    • Google as had some real nice interface features (some of mgail, the drag-your-route in gMaps). Now pair that with the manic geek-energy that HTC seems to have for producing PDA phones, and I'm ready to line up with my $600. I've got an HTC Hermes, and while it's got it's issues, it's a damned good PDA phone (I happen to like a keyboard, thankyouverymuch). Decouple HTC from Microsoft and the stylus-driven interface and you're heading towards a great product for those of us who just want to get work done.

      HT

  • Google and Dell? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by qazwart ( 261667 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2008 @03:14PM (#22238088) Homepage
    Nope, doesn't sound right. Google is not coming out with a gPhone jointly developed with Dell. Otherwise, they'd be competing against their own customers.

    What might be happening is that Dell is designing a phone based upon Android (like many other hardware vendors will be doing). Google may be giving them some technical assistance since --if the reports are true-- Dell would be one of the first vendors actually building a phone based upon Android.

    It's like saying my company and Microsoft are jointly developing a new project because I'm using VisualStudio, and I have a support contract with Microsoft.

    Now, whether the new Dell phone will fly is another question since all hardware manufacturers still need to have tie-ins with some cellphone service provider. If Dell is creating such a phone, we can count Verizon out as a possible cellphone service provider since they refuse to have anything to do with Android.

    Wonder how the 700Mhz auctions are going...

  • sweet (Score:2, Funny)

    by botkiller ( 181386 )
    I wonder if the battery will explode while I have it against my ear?

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